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The $200 million Man

You read the headline right. The $200 million man is none other than Roger Goodell.

My first question: What is it about top guys getting extensions when they clearly aren’t fit for their job?

I’m alluding to Roger Goodell and John Skipper. Roger Goodell is now making more money than any player in the NFL. John Skipper signs a contract extension just before they were about to lay off another 100 employees at ESPN. The average viewership, in the NFL, is declining. Along with ESPN losing subscribers every quarter. I know if I failed this bad I wouldn’t have a job.

Next question: Is Roger Goodell worth $200 million?

No. From early reports, Goodell was asking for almost $50 million annually, a private jet and lifelong health insurance for his whole family. I hope, for his sake, that he didn’t get the lifelong health insurance. Heck, players who actually risk their lives don’t receive lifelong health insurance. Goodell is widely inconsistent with punishments. Abuses his power as much as anyone in sports (Other than Adam Silver, name another commissioner). Clearly doesn’t understand the scope of what the players are trying to accomplish with the protests. Viewership is down all across the board. The list of failures could go and on.

Signing (demanding) this deal could not make him look any worse than he has already made himself look. In 2013, he implemented a rookie pay scale. This limits the amount of money that rookies are able to sign. A joke that’s thrown around is the NFL stands for Not For Long league. So why limit the amount of money these kids can make right away in the league? The average length of a NFL career is around 3 years. That doesn’t even bring them through their rookie contract. I get it that teams shouldn’t have to pay $50 million guaranteed to a player that hasn’t played a snap in the NFL just because they were drafted in the first round. What I don’t understand is why they would push out their second contract passed the average length of careers?

NFL players sign lucrative deals, but most of the time their contract isn’t guaranteed. Most of the time it’s based on some guarantees, roster/workout bonuses, performance escalators, etc. I’ve read reports that some of Roger’s contract is on performance of the league, which is essentially guaranteed. This makes zero sense. How does someone who continually digs a bigger divider amongst players/fans get a better deal than the guys putting themselves on the line everyday? Tom Brady earns $19.5 million every year. Is Roger Goodell twice as worthy as Tom Brady? Nope.